Bumps In The Road
by tattoohero
Summary: Commander Leia Shepard and Dr. Liara T'Soni seem to have a few bumps in the road.  Set after "A Family Vacation".


**Bumps In The Road**

Leia Shepard is working on building a workout room in the family's home on the outskirts of the colony on Elysium. Kaja T'Soni, the eldest sibling is trying to give her father a hand by holding up the boards, so her dad can nail them to the studs. Kaja asks, "Dad, why is mom so moody lately? It seems to get worse by the day. I know she is pregnant, but that can't the only reason."

"If I knew the reason, Kaja, I would say. I don't know. I can only guess to the reason for her mood the past few days. My best guess is...she's tired of being pregnant. She is still carrying your baby sister and her due date was last week," answers Shepard as she nails in the last nail. "Hah, done." Leia places her arm around Kaja's shoulder. "What do you think?"

Kaja looks at the finished room. "I think it looks good. What all are you going to put down here?"

"I'm not sure yet. Punching bag for one. Other workout equipment. I need to decide which ones I want to use," answers Shepard with a hint of pride in her voice. This is a project that has taken her months to complete. With Dr. Liara T'Soni being pregnant, it hasn't left Shepard much time to get the basement finished.

Gaia T'Soni comes running down the stairs to the basement yelling, "Dad, dad. Mom needs you now!" Gaia comes close to falling down the last three steps.

"Be careful Gaia. What does your mom want?" asks Leia as she admires her hand work. At least the wall on square and straight. Next thing she needs to do it is mud the seams and paint. The best thing about this house is it is not a prefab house. Very original looking and now more so with Leia's work in the basement.

"She is saying she needs to go to the hospital now," answers Gaia. She isn't remembering how exactly her mother phrased it. Everyone in the house in a way has tuned Liara out some because of her moodiness.

Shepard goes running up the steps taking two at time. She looks for Liara and finds her in the bedroom. "Shepard, it's time to take me to the hospital. I've already contacted Chakwas and she is going to meet us there."

"Good because now you can get back to acting normal instead of being snippy with everyone in the house," remarks Shepard as she grabs the bag she has ready. Even though Leia is not in the military, she still keeps some of the values of being ready for anything to heart. It is something she tries to teach her children.

Liara T'Soni shots Leia a nasty look, but doesn't say anything. The pregnant asari doubles over in pain. "Urgh, that time it really hurt. Lets go."

Leia wraps her arm around Liara to help her to the car parked out front of the house. When they get outside, Hannah Shepard is parking her car next to Leia and Liara's car. "I'll watch the kids, Chakwas told me she is meeting you at the hospital. So, I decided to come over to babysit."

"Damn, mom, how fast did you drive over here?" asks Leia as she helps Liara get into the family size skycar.

Grinning at the couple, Hannah answers, "Fast enough to get here before you left. Where are Kaja and Gaia?"

Kaja is running after her parents, "Don't leave us here?" She stops when she sees her grandmother. "Hi, grandma. You staying with us?"

"Yes, Kaja, I am. Is that alright with you?" asks Hannah with a smile on her face.

The eldest daughter nods her head in approval. "Of course, grandma." Kaja walks back into the house with Hannah following closely behind.

Commander Shepard walks around the skycar and gets into it. Closing the door, the car takes off for the hospital. Liara's contractions are about two minutes apart and Shepard is driving to get her to the hospital as fast as legally possible. Something she doubts her mother did on the way to their house. Liara yells and screams at Shepard to drive faster the time it takes Leia to get into the colony. She parks the car near the ER entrance.

Dr. Chakwas is there waiting along with an asari doctor named Dr. Octana. Dr. Octana is the doctor from Nos Astra and is the family's doctor. Chakwas is taking over tha role now, but on several occasions has consulted with the asari doctor about Liara's pregnancy. When the car door opens, two orderlies help Liara into a wheel chair to take her to a waiting delivery room. Commander Shepard parks the car into a parking space then runs into the hospital.

Chakwas is waiting outside the delivery room for Commander Shepard. The human doctor says, "This way, Leia." Shepard and Dr. Chakwas walk into the delivery. Liara is lying in the bed with a few monitors hooked up. They are monitoring both Liara's heartbeat and the baby's. Dr. Octana is looking over the readouts. Everything is looking normal and T'Soni is ready to deliver. Baby is a little over due, but that is not uncommon.

Dr. T'Soni is grunting and cussing up a storm. This is going to get unpleasant thinks the Commander. Very unpleasant. Leia sits on a stool next to the bed. She takes T'Soni's hand into her's. Liara squeezes it tightly, causing Shepard to grimaces from Liara's grip. Leia keeps her mouth shut except for words of encouragement.

"One more big push, Liara," says Dr. Octana.

T'Soni grunts while giving one big push that is the last one. Dr. Octana wraps the newborn in a blanket after the attending nurse cleans the infant up. She give baby, Olivia, to Liara to hold. "Congratulations, she is a very healthy baby. Do you have a name picked out?" asks Dr. Octana.

"Olivia," answers Liara as she take Olivia into her arms.

"That is a beautiful name," comments Octana before she leaves the room to give the couple some privacy.

Dr. Chakwas follows behind but not before she leans in to say, "She has Shepard's eyes. Just like Kaja. Do you want me to contact Hannah so she can bring the kids into town to see their baby sister?"

Leia answers before Liara gets the chance to, "Yes, thank you." Shepard reaches over the side of the bed to offer her finger to Olivia. Olivia wraps her hand around her finger. A huge smile crosses Leia's face as she watches Olivia's face light up when she sees her father. "She's so beautiful, Liara. Just like you." Shepard kisses Liara then caresses her cheek. Before the nurse takes Olivia to the nursery, Leia and Liara give their youngest a kiss on the forehead.

T'Soni looks wore out. She looks at Shepard with a slight smile on her face, "I hope you're not upset with the things I said. I know I've been very moody lately. Forgive me?"

"Nothing to forgive, Liara. We've been ignoring you for about three weeks. You might want to tell the girls though. Kaja was asking me why your moody lately. I really didn't have an answer for her. Other than you were pregnant and overdue," answers Shepard with a smile on her face.

Hannah along with Kaja and Gaia come walking into the room. Hannah asks, "Who wants to ogle at the baby?" The elder human has a huge smile on her face. Wonderful another grandchild to spoil and spend time with. And this time from newborn age.

Gaia sits in a chair opposite from her father, next to her mother's bed. "You back to normal now?" ask the middle child.

Leia almost starts laughing at Gaia's question. She puts her hand over her mouth to stifle laugh. Good question, Gaia thinks the Commander. Liara looks to Leia, who has a big grin on her face and very close to laughing. T'Soni can't help but chuckle a little despite being wore out. "Yes, Gaia. I'll try not to be as moody as before. Just a little moody." Liara places about a half-inch gap between her forefinger and thumb.

Kaja is ready to see her baby sister. "May we go and see Olivia now?" Hannah opens the door to let Kaja into the hallway.

Gaia hops off the chair and heads to the door, "You coming, dad?"

"I'll be right there. I want to talk to your mom some more," answers Shepard. After everyone leaves, Leia turns to face, Liara. "You look tired. Do you want me to stay with you tonight and have mom take the kids or want me to take them home and come back tomorrow?" She hold's T'Soni's hand and places a soft kiss on the back of the asari's hand.

"Go ahead and take the kids home. Lets keep things as normal as possible. All I want to do now is sleep. First time in a while I think I can actually get a good night sleep without having Olivia kicking off and on all night," says Liara. She pauses to smile at Shepard. "Lets talk more when Olivia and I come home."

Commander Shepard stands up and leans over the bed to give T'Soni a tender kiss on her lips, "You sure that is what you want? I'm here if you need me. I'm sure Kaja and Gaia will help too. I love you, doc."

"I'm sure. Go ahead and head home. Shepard, I love you too," comments T'Soni as she starts to nod off in the bed. Leia gives her love another kiss this time on the cheek before she heads to the nursery to see Olivia.

Leia walks down the hallway to join the rest of her family to ogle at the baby, Olivia. Seeing Dr. Octana filling out some paperwork, she walks over to talk to the asari doctor. "I have to ask Dr. Octana, how did you know to be here? Or should I ask, who asked you to be here?"

The asari doctor looks up from her duties and smiles at the human standing before her. "Commander. Or should I call you Councilor?"

"Either one is fine, doctor," answers Shepard with a proud look on her face and a smile the lights up the room.

"I've been here for about three weeks. I was present at Liara's last appointment. She didn't tell you?"

Shepard give Octana a curious look then rubs the back of her neck thinking did Liara say anything. I've ignored her for about that long. "She might have. I'll be honest, Liara has been extremely moody for a few months and it got to where I wasn't paying as much attention to what she has said to me for the past few weeks. Kaja and Gaia have been doing the same thing for the most part. She might have said something but don't remember it." The human's face gets a little red from embarrassment

Nodding to Shepard because she understands what is it like dealing with a very moody pregnant asari. Octana gets many moody, unbearable asari in her office weekly. "I know. She mentioned how she's been lately. Liara also mentioned how you've shown a great deal of patience about it."

"Liara has already apologized to me. I know there will be more to come and I'm ready for it," grins Shepard. She isn't sure if Kaja and Gaia are ready for round two of Liara's moodiness. Round two will start soon enough. "I should go. Nice seeing you, doctor."

Dr. Octana smiles at Shepard before going back to her paperwork. Shepard walks off to join up with her older daughters to ogle at Olivia. When she gets to the nursery, Gaia is hopping up and down trying to see into the window that is just out of her view.

Leia picks Gaia up so the youth can look through the window. "Thanks, dad. Ah, she's sleeping," says Gaia T'Soni with a hint of disappointment in her voice. She also has her lower lip out in a pouting look.

Hannah comments, "She looks like her sisters and her mother. Imagine that." Grinning and chuckling at her comment, Hannah gives Leia a hug and smooch on the cheek.

Rolling her eyes at Hannah, Leia says, "Imagine that, mom." Shepard puts Gaia back on the ground, "You're getting heavy, Gaia."

"Ah, dad, now I can't see Olivia," pouts Gaia in an overtly dramatic fashion with her hands on her hips and the bottom lip sticking out as far as it can. The youth's eyes have a sad puppy dog look to them. Gaia goes back to jumping up and down to see over the lip of the window.

One of the nurses starts to close the curtain to the nursery. Another nurse walks over to the family saying, "I'm sorry, but visiting hours ended about fifteen minutes ago. I hate to do this to you, Commander Shepard, I really do. It's bed time for all the little ones. I hope you understand." Smiling at the family, the nurse goes back inside the nursery to complete her duties for the evening.

"Well, you heard her. Time to go home. Lets go see if your mom is awake. If not then we're heading home," comments Leia before the family leaves to check in on Liara. Leia opens the door and peeks into Liara's room. The lights are off and T'Soni is sleeping soundly. "Looks like we're heading home. Your mom is sleeping."

Everyone walks outside and gets into the family size skycar. The short ride back to their home on the outskirts of the colony is in silence. Both girls nod off on the ride back to the house. It is getting past their bed time and they do have school tomorrow. Liara wants everything as normal as possible, so Leia is going to make sure everything is normal. With a new baby to come home soon, normal is a state of mind.

The next morning after Shepard drops her two older kids off at school, she stops at a floral shop to find a bouquet of flowers for Liara. Leia isn't sure what she wants to get. Roses or lilacs? Perhaps both? Shepard orders a bouquet of a mix of roses and lilacs. The bouquet consists of four blue roses, one red rose, and one peach rose to go with the lilacs the fill out the rest of the space in the vase. She also gets a small card to go with the bouquet.

Leia walks into Liara's hospital room with the bouquet of flowers in her hand. The asari is still sleeping and looking quite peaceful. Smiling at Liara, Shepard places the bouquet on the table next to the bed then leans over and places a tender soft kiss on Liara's cheek. T'Soni turns over and opens her eyes to see Shepard standing next to the bed smiling a big toothy smile. "Morning, doc. Get a good nights sleep?" asks Leia.

Dr. T'Soni grins at Shepard. Liara sits up more in the bed besides bringing the bed into an upright position. She grabs the front of Leia's shirt and pulls her in for a long lingering kiss. "Yes and no. Slept better than I have in a few months, but something was missing though." The asari crosses her arms then moves her left hand to tap the side of her jaw, thinking. "Hmm. I wonder what that could be though," comments Liara with a grin on her face.

"Probably the human pillow you like to sleep with," replies Commander Shepard with the famous smirk. She grabs the vase and gives the bouquet of flowers to Liara, "Here, I got these for you."

Inhaling each flower's fragrance, the information broker smiles at her bondmate, "There you go again being a hopeless romantic. It's a beautiful arraignment, Leia. Thank you." She hands the vase back to Shepard, who places it back on the small end table. "Have any plans for today?"

"Not until this afternoon. I received a message from a Lieutenant Hale of the Alliance last night after the girls and I got home. She is in public relations department and wants me to talk to some writer and movie producer about the war with the Reapers. They are doing some type of movie about the war and want my advice. So, I'll talk to them and see what they want then decide if I will help them or not," answers Shepard. Leia is sitting in a chair next to the bed with her ankle on the opposite knee.

"That's interesting. Tell Gaia about this? I'm sure she would like to hear about you meeting people who make movies," replies T'Soni as she gets off the bed and heads to the bathroom. "I'll be right back."

While Liara is in the bathroom, the nurse walks into the room with Olivia in her arms. "Dr. T'Soni in the bathroom, Commander?" asks the nurse as she hands Olivia over to Shepard.

"Yes, she is," answers Leia Shepard as she smiles at Olivia in her arms. Olivia takes Leia's forefinger into her tiny hand. The baby smiles up at her father, which causes Leia to show a toothy smile.

The nurse waits until Liara vacates the bathroom before speaking, "Dr. T'Soni, ma'am, doctor Octana will be in shortly." The nurse smiles at the asari before leaving the room.

Liara is sitting in the rocking chair in on of the corners of the room patiently waiting for Leia to bring Olivia over. T'Soni is a little surprised Olivia isn't crying, but instead cooing and making all type of happy baby noises while in Leia's arms. Shepard finally brings Olivia over to Liara, so Liara can breast feed her.

"I think she wants you now, Liara," says Shepard as she hands over Olivia to T'Soni.

Dr. Octana walks into the room with some paperwork in her hand for Liara T'Soni to sign. "Good morning, Dr. T'Soni, Commander. I have a few papers for you to sign along with your discharge papers. I have one request before you sign these, Dr. T'Soni," says the asari medical doctor with a grin on her face.

"What would that be, Dr. Octana ?" asks Liara as she move Olivia to a more comfortable position in her arms.

The asari medical doctor grins more, "Bed rest of the next three days, T'Soni. I know how you are. You are wanting to go back to work soon. If you can't do that at home, I'll make sure you get it here. Understand?"

Shepard stifles a laugh by putting her hand over her mouth because she knows Liara is wanting to go back to work and if Liara has her way, it will be tomorrow. "I promise, doctor, I'll make sure she stays in bed for the next few days."

Octana hands Dr. T'Soni the paperwork she needs to sign. Liara signs them and hands them back, "Don't worry, Dr. Octana. I'm sure Shepard will have Dr. Chakwas on speed dial if I don't do what you want." Liara gives Shepard a wink and grin.

"Good, Commander, you can take them home at your convenience. Now, I need to go and get to the spaceport to catch the shuttle back to Illium. Next time your on Illium, please stop by and say hi," replies Dr. Octana. The asari medical doctor takes the signed paperwork and leaves to give them to a nurse so the nurse can file them away so she isn't late for her shuttle.

"Well, Liara, ready to head home?" asks Leia. The human offers her hand to the asari sitting in the rocking chair. Then it dawns on Shepard, "Oh crap. I don't have the car seat in the car. I'll have to go home to get it."

Liara stays in the chair. She is waiting for Olivia to get done suckling on her breast. "It in the storage compartment in the car, Leia. I put it in there last week and I do believe I told you that after I did it," comments T'Soni.

Shepard rubs the back of her neck knowing the next thing she says is going to get Liara ticked off at her. Leia has a sheepish grin on her face, "Oh, okay. Liara, I...I've been sorta ignoring you for a few weeks. It was the only way I could handle your moodiness. The kids were doing it to, but not as bad as I was. I'm sorry."

"Here take her, Leia," says Dr. T'Soni as she hands Olivia to Leia. Liara gets out of the chair and changes her clothes and puts everything back into the bag. She turns to face her love, "I don't blame you, Leia." Liara thinks for a moment before continuing. "After our little blow up about a name, I knew you were starting to blow off some of my comments. If I was in your shoes, I'd probably do the same. I'm the one that is sorry, Leia. Not you."

The asari grabs the bouquet of flowers and her bag while Leia has a hold of Olivia. They vacate the room and head to their car so they can go home. Neither one says much during the ride back to their home on the outskirts of the colony. Both feel they need to talk about the things that have gone on the past few weeks or not gone on in some cases.

Liara takes Olivia from the car seat while Leia takes the bouquet of flowers and Liara's overnight bag. Shepard quickly opens the door for mother and their newborn, Olivia. Liara places the baby in her crib then heads to the bedroom to do what the doctor ordered. Stay in bed.

Shepard puts the bouquet of flowers on the end table next to Liara's side of the bed. She tosses the bag into a chair and sits on the edge of the bed. The human kisses Liara's lips before saying, "Liara, are you happy here? Things seem to go down hill after we moved. I know what you said before we moved, but that was almost a year ago and things seems to have changed since then." Shepard grins some, but worries about T'Soni at the same time.

"What makes you think I'm unhappy here, Leia? I could have been just as moody living on the Citadel or Nos Astra. I actually enjoy being away from the crowds. We have more privacy now than before. We haven't taken advantage of it yet," replies Liara as she takes Leia's hand into her's.

Leia replies, "You don't seem happy, Liara. That is why I think that. I don't think it's the house, but where we built it. Shit, I'm starting to second guess myself." Shepard gets off the bed and walks over by a window looking at the view of the mountain range. It is a beautiful view. She turns to face Liara, "All I want is for everything to go back to being somewhat normal. As normal as possible. We've been pulled in different directions since our vacation last year."

T'Soni starts to get out of bed then thinks better of it. "I want the same things you do. We're not your typical couple. We both knew this long before we got married, Leia. You have at least three different statues of you on different planets or at the Citadel. And the Citadel statue has both of us in it. How many other couple can say that?"

"You're right," comments Shepard as she crawls into bed to sit next to Liara. Leia fluffs up a pillow and puts it near her head as she continues, " We're not a typical couple. As much as I wish we were, we're not. Then what made this pregnancy so different, Liara? At times, I feel us drifting apart and that scares me."

Dr. Liara T'Soni closes her eyes to think. Several moments pass before she opens them again. "I over worked myself while vetting the new Councilor. I shouldn't have done that, Leia. That is what made it this pregnancy harder on me than the other two. I knew you being Councilor isn't something you wanted, so I over did it to allow you to step down." She wraps her arms around the human sitting next to her. Nuzzling her head into Leia's torso. "I don't think we're drifting apart. I do know I was unbearable at times and you did what you needed to do to deal with that. Even Gaia and Kaja kept their distance at times. This is only a bump in the road, Leia." The asari snuggles more against Shepard, which causes Shepard to wrap her arm around Liara. "Yes, you're right. I was missing my human pillow."

Leia starts laughing at Liara's comment about missing her human pillow. "Bump in the road, huh? Maybe we should have waited to move. Maybe I made you feel we needed to do it right away. I shouldn't have done that. Everything that happened to us while on vacation threw me for a loop. It wasn't anything I was expecting and I am usually ready for anything, Liara. It's been almost a year and I still feel I let our kids down. I don't think I'll ever stop feeling that guilt."

"I love you, Leia. You've done nothing to feel this guilt you have. Everything worked out in the end. The road was a little bumpy, but we managed to navigate it," replies Liara. She sits up some looking into Shepard's eyes. The asari sees a mix of sadness in Leia's eyes along with guilt. Sighing softly, Liara caresses her love's cheek before planting a big wet sloppy kiss on the human's lips. T'Soni moves to straddle Shepard's lap, pinning the human against the bed's headboard.

Commander Shepard wraps her arms around T'Soni and pulls the asari in tighter against her body. The warmth of Liara's body against Shepard's causes Leia to relax and her body to ache with desire. Their kiss ends when they hear Olivia crying through the baby monitor. Shepard let's go of Liara and gets off the bed to check on the newborn. "I'll get her, Liara." Before she leaves their bedroom, Shepard says, "I love you, Liara." The smirk returns to Shepard's face.

As Leia Shepard looks down at Olivia, she realizes how lucky she really is. Yes, there are bumps in the road, but she knows she has a soul mate that loves her. Three wonderful children that adore her especially the oldest, Kaja. She isn't sure if Olivia adores her, but Olivia's face lights up when ever she sees her father. The baby may only be a day old, but Shepard can already see how happy the baby is. Liara is right, this is nothing but a few bumps in the road.

A/N:This is the last story completed in this arc. I have others uncompleted that I will try to finish in the future. No promises. I have started on a story that will be my first one that deals with the events of ME3. I'll be changing the ending from the game to suit my needs, but not by much. I ask you to please trust me. I'll try hard not to let you, the reader, down. :) Don't expect it for a while yet.

Yes, I know Liara probably came home from the hospital a little early.

I have one more story to post. I wrote it after playing the demo. I'll post it next week.


End file.
